The Despised

Punk, It's Not For Rich Kids Anymore

Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, The Despised are emerging from an almost non-existant punk scene in a city dominated by dirty-south style hip hop and R&B musicians, and this shows through in the songs of their debut album "Punk, It's Not For Rich Kids Anymore" released earlier this year through an obscure label Visual Impact Productions Inc.

Material on the disc is inspired with oldschool punk rock energy, where melody wasn't as important as speed, volume and garage-style dirty production. With essentially no music scene growing on around them, The Despised sound like time has stopped and music and technology haven't evolved since the late 80s. Songs like "Just Can't Hate Enough (Sheer Terror)" are bombastic, with heavily off-tune riffs sounding as southern fried as you can imagine. They are dirty, they are angry, they are raw, and they assault you like your favorite punk bands from the 80s did when recording in a studio was 'for the rich kids' as their album title depicts, only with the difference that instead of leaving you full of joy, it leaves you wanting to get some earplugs instead. The vocals are delivered with scratched yells and shouts, and for the most part are repulsive even if they do achieve the sound of pissed-off punk rock kids wanting to be heard. But unfortunately, with a sound like this, they won't be, and though the album has some gems like "Punk's Not For Rich Kids Anymore" and the tongue-in-cheek Rancid-style ballad "People Who Died", most songs are unmemorable distortion-filled messes that cry for proper production. Don't get me wrong, I love lo-fi stuff like old NOFX but there's a fine line between sounding raw in a good way and raw in the horrible way. That line has been crossed on their debut.

4

Download: Punk's Not For Rich Kids Anymore, People Who DiedFor the fans of: RancidListen: Myspace